Mat.



E. W. CRUIKSHANK. MAT.

APPLICATION FILED 1320.17, 1908.

Patented Sept. y14, 1909.

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ERNEST W. CRUIKSHANK, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

MAT.

Application filed December 17, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatl I, ERNEST IV. CRUIK- .s1-UNK, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented anew and useful Mat, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to textile fabrics and particularly to theconstruction of mats.

In the manufacture of ordinary door mats from cocoa fabric, coir andsimilar material, it is usual to weave the coir over pile wires in muchthe same manner as chenille is woven and then to cutl the material onthe wire for the purpose of making tufts. After the mat is woven thesurface is trimmed off and the short fibers formed as a result of thistrimming operation have hitherto been considered as waste material andhave never been used to advantage.

The principal object of the present invention is to utilize this wastematerial or any other material in the form of short fibers for thepurpose of manufacturing mats.

A further object of the invention is to form a textile fabric having aloose disconnected filler.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a fabric having afiller weft formed of loose disconnected bunches of fabric.

VVit-h these and other objects in view, as will morefully hereinafterappear, the presentinvention consists in certain novel details ofconstruction and arrangement of parts, as will be more fully hereinafterdescribed, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and moreparticularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understoodthat various changes in the form, proportion, size and minor details ofconstruction may be made without departing from the spirit orsacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings :MFigure l is a perspective view of a matconstructed in accordance with the invention, a portion of the fillerbeing removed in order to show the interlacing warp and weft threads.Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the shed open andillustrating the manner in which the loose anomalous filler isintroduced into the shed. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view of thecomplete mat.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate correspondingparts throughout the several gures of the drawings.

Speccation of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. it, i909.

semi No. 468,019.

In practically all woven or knitted fabrics it has hitherto beenconsidered necessary to arrange the filler or other strands in the forniof yarn more or less loosely twisted in order that the same may beproperly placed in the shed during the process of weaving, but .incarrying out the present invention the filler is made of short,disconnected fibers which otherwise would be waste material andintroducing the saine in the shed in an anomalous condition, that is tosay, the fibers are thrown either by hand or by suitable mechanism intothe open shed and then beat up with a binder weft, the warp threadsbeing arranged sufficiently close together in order to co-act with thebinder wefts to hold all of the short fibers in place and to form tuftswhich will extend from each side of the fabric and form a more or lessrough surface which is adapted for use as matting. The warp threads l0may be'formed of coir, jute or any other suitable material and arearranged at such distance from each other as to firmly hold the .fillerin proper position. The weft threads l1 are interwoven in the usualmanner with the warps as shown in Fig. 1.

In weaving the mat the filler 12 is introduced into the shed in themanner shown in Fig. 2, the mass of short, loose fibers being simplythrown into the shed either by hand or by any suitable mechanism, thebers being preferably formed of the waste material resulting from themanufacture of ordinary coir mats, although it will be understood thatthe invention contemplates the employment of short, loose fibers of anymaterial. After the introduction of the loose filler a binder shot ismade and then the lay is operated for the purpose of beating up thebinder weft, carrying the loose filler into proper position and thenwhen the shed changes and the positions of the warps are reversed thestrain on the mass of fibers will result in the formation of a series oftufts, that is to say, the fibers which are caught and held by thedescending'warps will be carried down and doubled into approximatelyU-shape so that their median lines will be at the bottom of the matwhile their ends will be exposed at the upper surface thereof and on theascending warps the reverse effect will be accomplished so thatthroughout the entire mat the tufts may be said to alternate. Thistufting arrangement, however, is in most cases a matter of accident andcannot be always depended upon for the reason that no effort is made toarrange the short ibers in such position as to insure the formation ofthese tufts, the intent being merely to place the filler in an anomalousdisconnected condition into the shed and to hold the same properlytogether by the warps and binder wefts.

In carrying out the invention it is preferred to saturate the Warpthreads with some adhesive material so that the iller may be more lirmlyheld although this has not been found absolutely necessary inpracticing' the invention on a commercial scale.

The finished mat is fully equal in appearance to the more expensivecocoaiber mat made in the ordinary manner and after being' in use for ashort time, especially after some exposure to damp atmosphere7 the massof libers will be compacted or compressed to such an extent as toprevent loosening or displacement of the 'fibers under ordinary wear. Insome cases, however7 the entire mat after being woven may be subjectedto a bath of some adhesive material and then compressed in any suitablemanner as by passing the same through pressure rollers.

Having' thus described the invention, What is claimed is l. A matcomprising warp and weft threads, and a series or' tufts confinedbetween the threads and facing alternately in opposite directions andcomposed of a heterogeneous mass otl short vegetable fibers.

2. A mat comprising warp and weft threads, and a series of tuftsconfined between the threads7 composed of a heterogeneous mass of shortfibers and doubled upon themselves v.around and by the warp threads.-

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aiiiXedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ERNEST IV. CRUIKSHANK.

IVitnesses 2 IVILMER II. RANDEL, LYDIA B. SMITH.

